Longer shelf life for foods – avoid contamination

Packing sliced bread in a large-scale bakery. The CleanSteriCell® closed system in clean room class ISO-7 meets requirements for pharmaceutical production.

Organic yoghurt filling process. CleanFlowCell® laminar flow housing, clean room class ISO-7.

Packing of organic spread. CleanFlowCell® laminar flow housing, clean room class ISO-7.

Natural foods without added preservatives and without the use of thermal processes – this is what modern end consumers want. At the same time, the demand for longer shelf life and absolute product safety is also growing. 

It is possible to do both by using specifically selected clean room technology. High-performance particulate filters offer filter performance so high that even microbiological risks like bacteria and moulds can be kept away from the production process. Whether bread, sausage, yoghurt, vegetables or beverages – in the manufacturer, processing, filling and packaging of sensitive goods, contamination can be completely eliminated. The practically germ-free processing of foods not only permits a significantly longer shelf life for the products, the safety increase is also reflected in lower numbers of complaints.

In the past few years in the food industry, there has been a clear reorientation of hygienic production. More and more food producers rely on the advantages offered by processing in a clean room. The investment in clean room facilities amortises quickly due to the advantages it brings.

Good planning in advance is essential, taking the special features of the specific production process into consideration. The Baden-Wurttemberg company SCHILLING ENGINEERING specialises in the development and installation of clean room systems and has increasingly been working with customers in the food industry over the past few years. Every clean room installation is customised to the needs of the customer and planned with close coordination. Managing Director Günther Schilling is happy about trends in the food industry:

"For some time we've noticed a significant increase in investment. Clean room technology offers great advantages in food production, since the open product is protected from germs during processing. Constant, precision-directed air flows force contaminated air away from the process. The clean room enclosures used are designed for the smallest size needed for safe production. We plan every project on a customer-specific basis and provide support through the qualification stage. Our customers have had very good experiences with clean room production. Since we use only high-quality materials and the latest technology, the maintenance costs of our systems are very low. The investment amortises very quickly".

SCHILLING ENGINEERING offers different clean room solutions for food production

CleanFlowCell® laminar flow housings and clean room tents are flexible, cost-effective clean room systems in which directed air flows are used to replace contaminated air with filtered air free of moulds and bacteria. The systems consist of load-bearing frame structures of aluminium and are protected from the environment using PVC sheet curtains.

Product safety at the highest possible level offered by CleanSteriCell® closed clean room systems, developed for the strict requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. These are a free-standing "room in room" system usually installed within production buildings. Using a built-in air circulation process within the clean room walls and a permanent air exchange, constant particle cleanliness, temperature, humidity and pressure conditions can be maintained throughout the room. Employees can only enter the clean room through lock systems and with suitable clean room clothing. Microbiological contamination is reliably eliminated.

With flexible options of the latest standards, cleanroom technology can even be integrated into smaller plants and can contribute to further increases in the safety and longer shelf life of food production.